Zimbabwe’s richest man Strive Masiyiwa is now among the world’s top 20 black billionaires following a strong rebound in his net worth since the beginning of 2023.
Masiyiwa’s net worth dropped by $1.5 billion last year, but it has now rebounded due to an increase in the share prices of his publicly traded companies on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE), specifically Econet Zimbabwe and EcoCash Holdings.
According to Forbes, Masiyiwa has seen his net worth increase by $800 million since the start of 2023 from $1.2 billion at the start of the year to $2 billion as of April 5, Billionaires Africa reported.
The strong rebound in his net worth cements his position as one of Africa’s richest billionaires and also one of the world’s 19 Black billionaires.
Masiyiwa’s billion-dollar fortune comes partly from owning a 52.85% share in Econet Zimbabwe, which is the top telecommunications service provider in the country, and a 30% share in EcoCash Holdings, a company that offers mobile money transfer services.
Through his interest in Econet Global Limited, a diversified telecom group with operations and investments in Africa, Europe, South America, and the East Asia-Pacific Rim, the Zimbabwean billionaire also has a $145 million stake in Liquid Intelligent Technologies.
Since the beginning of the year, the share price of Econet Zimbabwe had risen by 160.37 per cent, from ZWL96.28 ($0.30) on January 1 to ZWL250.68 ($0.78) as of April 5.
The share price of EcoCash Holdings had increased by 69.55 per cent, from ZWL40.081 ($0.12) to ZWL67.96 ($0.21) as of April 5.